By Rusty Nixon Correspondent
PLYMOUTH — The effects of Father Time may leave Plymouth baseball leagues relying on the time-tested sun for light as they play games this season.
An inspection of lighting poles around Centennial Park this spring has left Park Superintendent Mike Hite with no other choice but to ask the Park Board to take some of them down.

The lighting poles in the outfield sections of the B-League, C-League, and fast-pitch softball diamonds have experienced enough wear that engineers are recommending to Hite that he take them down and either repair them or replace them. The poles are the original lighting poles that were placed in the parks when the back section — which also includes Bill Nixon Field — was first constructed in 1972. The poles deemed hazardous are the double-section poles. Single-section poles in the parks are still in acceptable condition.
“We had Michiana Contracting, who has always done the work on those poles, come out and take a look at one of them we had concerns about early in the spring,” said Hite. “(Michiana representative and Plymouth City Council-man) Mike Delp was the one who went up in the bucket to look at them and when he came down, he said we really should have them all tested.”
The engineering consultant hired to do the work came back with the recommendation of replacement or repair. The fix of the poles was an estimated $50,000 to $70,000, with no guarantees.
“They would only guarantee the fix for two to four years,” said Hite. “I’ve done a lot of research over the years on replacing the lights and the cost to replace them is about $80,000 to $90,000 with a 25-year warranty on everything, including bulbs, so it doesn’t make a whole lot of sense to me to spend almost that much to fix them for just a couple of years.”
The problem for Hite is that either solution is out of reach financially.
“Of course I didn’t budget to replace lights this year,” he said. “There’s really no way I could with my budget.”
The next move is to examine options.
“I have to present this to the Park Board on Thursday, and of course the decision is up to them, but after they hear the recommendation I’m pretty sure they will instruct me to take the possibly dangerous poles down,” said Hite. “This whole thing really makes me sick, but there’s really nothing else we can do. The engineer was talking about pretty high winds being necessary to make something happen, but if there is the slightest chance of something happening we have to take care of it. Safety absolutely has to come first.”
Where the leagues and the park go from there is still up in the air.
“They will still have lights in the infield, and with daylight saving time, they can start around 5 p.m. and get two games in before it really gets dark anyway,” said Hite. “First thing is getting with the Park Board and hopefully then I can sit down with the Mayor and get his input, and we’ll go from there.”
The Park Board will meet at the Conservation Club-house at 5 p.m. Thursday.